Thursday’s Proton-M launch with the Intelsat 31 communications satellite dodged a bullet when the second stage of the workhorse suffered an engine-related problem in the last seconds of its burn, creating a performance shortfall that is likely to remain without consequences for the satellite payload.

Russia’s Proton-M heavy-lift rocket rolls to the launch pad at Site 81/24 from where it will begin a long orbital delivery of 15 and a half hours to loft the Intelsat 31 spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit.